


like petals from a white rose

by rocoroloco (wafumayo)



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Pre-Canon, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:35:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25524493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wafumayo/pseuds/rocoroloco
Summary: On good days, Goro's mother brings home little presents for him. Goro's favourite present from her is a little teddy bear who looks just like himself.
Relationships: Akechi Goro & Akechi Goro's Mother
Comments: 4
Kudos: 43





	like petals from a white rose

**Author's Note:**

> So there's this 15_hugs prompt meme on Livejournal that I grabbed and saved into my huge Prompt Document. It's the only one that's slowly getting filled. My first shiba inu fic and another upcoming fic are both from that. I'm about 99% sure that the people who made the prompt meme meant for it to be filled with cute fluffy stuff, but little did they know, years and years and years later, a degenerate like myself would come along and make it her mission to fill those prompts as nastily as she could.
> 
> With the exception of the shiba inu fic, of course uwu
> 
> [Here is a very sad but adorable animation of babby Goro!](https://twitter.com/JustTuggi/status/1287390734920949760)

When Goro was about four or five years old, his mother came back from work, her face worn and tired, but with a genuine smile on her red lips. It’s been a long time since Goro had seen his mother look anything other than stressed and exhausted, so he couldn’t help but run forward and give her a huge hug, rubbing his face against her knees as he yelled his "Welcome home" at her. 

He would normally never do such a thing, since there are times when his mother is so tired that she can’t help but smack him away, but he can tell that this is the mom who would envelope him with warmth. The mom who would stroke his hair in the same way that she did in the earliest memories of his youth, when she was always warm and happy and smiling. 

“I’m home, Goro-chan,” his mother said, as she reached down and ruffled his hair. “I have a little present for you.”

Sometimes the present is an itchy suit that she never actually lets Goro wear because there’s never a time or place for it. Once or twice, the present is warm take-out, that they share between them, giggling and popping food into the other’s mouth until the last piece, which they always split because Goro’s mom always wants him to eat more, and Goro always wants his mom to stay healthy and strong.

“A present!” Goro gasped with excitement - the exact same reaction he gave every single time it happens, no matter how disappointing the gifts can be at times. “What is it?”

“I got him from one of my clients today,” his mother said, and with a flourish, she presented to him a teddy bear about half his size. Chestnut brown, with a slightly red tint to his eyes, and a big red bow around his neck, the teddy bear looks smart and adorable and …

“He looks just like me!” Goro exclaimed. He reached out and grabbed it from his mother, clutching the teddy bear to his chest. He pressed his nose against the faux fur and breathed in deep, chasing the last remnants of his mother’s perfume in the toy. “What’s his name?”

His mother chuckled and ruffled Goro’s hair before moving away. The apartment room that the two shared was a single space, with a door linking the main room to the small bathroom. They ate, did homework, slept, and talked with each other in the exact same space. Goro’s entire world was the four-and-a-half-mat room and the walls that surrounded them, but there was nothing more that he would ever want. 

“You can name him whatever you want,” his mother said before beginning to get ready for bed.

“I’ll name him Masayoshi!” Goro said excitedly, knowing that that’s the name of his father from the many times that his mother had pointed him out on the television. Every time she did so, she told Goro that one day, Masayoshi-san will get secure a position in politics and then come back for them, and let them live with him in his big white house with the many many rooms. “If we have Masayoshi here, then Dad will come back faster!”

His mother wasn’t facing him, crouched down in front of the small vanity to remove her mask of makeup. Normally, his mother turned around whenever they talk, because his mother said that Goro must grow up to be a strong and polite man, and looking into someone’s eyes when they talk is the mark of such a person. 

“You’re right, Goro-chan,” his mother said, her voice quivering slightly in a way that Goro hadn’t heard in a long time. “That’s a nice and strong name for a nice and strong bear.”

In retrospect, Goro should have taken his words back. He should have decided to call the bear something else, or even consider calling the bear his mother’s name, claiming that the red bow actually makes the bear a girl bear rather than a boy. But he was so entranced by his present that he only had eyes for it, his mind transported from the reality of his small room and into the dream-world that normal children are allowed to inhabit.

When Goro was nine years old, he saw on the television that Shido Masayoshi had become one of the new Diet politicians, and could barely stifle his shrieks of joy, because his mother was asleep at the time and he didn't want to wake her up. However, after weeks of waiting, his clothes and toiletries perpetually stored in a little daybag so that he’d be ready any time his father came and swooped them away to his mansion, he finally realized just why his mother had been crying that day. 

She must have realized, even before anything, that their salvation could never come. That they would never be able to escape from their small room with the cramped bathroom. 

When Goro came home one day and found his mother lying face-down in the middle of the apartment, blood pooling around her from her wrists, he hugged Masayoshi close to his chest and buried his face into the fur, pursuing the warmth and scent of his mom in his softness.

**Author's Note:**

> My Twitter is [wafumayo](https://twitter.com/wafumayo) and my Tumblr is [surelynotshirley](http://surelynotshirley.tumblr.com)


End file.
